


Unseen Beginnings

by XtaticPearl



Series: Lives Behind The Suits [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Can't Have Nice Things For Long, Avengers Feels, BAMF Avengers, BAMF Nick Fury, BAMF Rhodey, Bruce Banner Cannot Catch A Moment, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes as Captain America, But Keep Holding On Guys, Canon-Typical Violence, Commander Rogers, Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hank Pym Is A Crazy SOB, Heavy Angst, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, Impersonation, M/M, Mind Games, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Protective Steve Rogers, Psychological Trauma, Reed Richards Might Lose His Mind Thanks To Tony Stark, SHIELD, Skrull(s), Tagging Sucks Even Now, The Author Regrets Nothing, Thriller, Tony Feels, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-05-29 17:41:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6385948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XtaticPearl/pseuds/XtaticPearl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things were finally at peace, with everybody having small moments of normalcy and happiness. Tony and Steve were successfully completing nine months of being in a relationship, a few other relationships had come out into the open and the memories of Civil War were fading into the past when a new danger sneaks in. A danger that threatens to rip them all apart from within. The Avengers have been prepared for everything till now, but how will they be prepared for a fight against their own? </p>
<p>[Sequel to Unwritten Endings]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reality In Obsolescence

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I decided to do a sequel. I am crazy like that. Enjoy the madness <3

Bruce remembered the moment it all changed for him.

It was in the worst place possible, a pressurized hellicarrier of SHIELD, an organization that had been hunting him down since his self-imposed exile had begun. He had been 'invited' by one of the most dangerous women of the planet, Black Widow herself, to join SHIELD in tracking down a maniac God who wanted to destroy the world. After meeting the bat-shit crazy group of individuals working with SHIELD, lead by the one-eyed pirate Nick Fury, Bruce had been tempted to say that maybe God wasn't all that wrong in his judgement of the world being a shitty place.

Of course, that had been until he had met said God. Bruce had found himself agreeing with the Other Guy for the first time when they decided that Loki Laufeyson was a bag of crazy.

But those were not the things that had changed it all for him. Well, not only them at least. The major factor had been an annoying prick, quite literally. Bruce had never known someone stranger than himself till he had met Tony Stark. If Bruce was a breathing volcano waiting to erupt all the time, Tony was a nuke at supersonic speed. The man blasted his way through people, uncaring of propriety, unwavering in his own beliefs, uncompromising in intelligence and most of all, unbelievable in forthrightness. He didn't tiptoe around Bruce, didn't hide a gun under his shirt when he spoke to him. He grinned, teased, shared snacks and in short declared himself to be Bruce's new best friend. 

It had been the scariest but most liberating time of the doctor's life. He found himself and the Other Guy trusting the arrogantly charming man in record time. He wasn't surprised when the big guy decided to wade into a war for Tony and took the proverbial leap of faith to save him from that terrifying fall from the portal. Bruce had never known someone this fearless of him, both sides of him, never known someone who had encouraged him to let go and 'strut'. 

Moving into the Tower had not been a matter of choice after that. Both he and Tony knew that R&D was just an excuse, Bruce was more appreciative of the freedom and friendship he found with the most idiotic yet remarkable man he knew.

It wasn't a surprise so, when he had been the most relieved at knowing that Tony had finally gotten over his pigtail pulling excuse and had gotten together with Steve Rogers, the guy Bruce knew Tony was besotted with for quite some time. It made him feel comforted that now, Tony could 'strut' too, confidently around the man he was in love with.

"Back to dreamworld?" Natasha asked softly and Bruce blinked before looking up to see his 'long-term date' smiling at him while holding a tablet in hand.

"Sorry," the bespectacled man replied with a sheepish smile, letting the last LED festoon fly up to stick to its chain hanging from the ceiling, "You need help?"

Natasha tossed him the tablet and gracefully plopped on the couch next to him.

"With this? No. With restraining myself from killing either Tony or James? That would be nice," she muttered in reply, shaking her head lightly.

Bruce chuckled quietly and sat still as Natasha kicked her feet up and placed them on his lap. He casually placed his hands on her ankles and tilted his head to look at her.

"They're still not letting up on buying the Dodgers, huh?" Bruce asked amusedly and smiled when Natasha rolled her eyes.

"I don't know if it's sweet because he cares or obnoxious because it's a frickin legendary team," Natasha quipped with a huff, cranking her neck back to relieve a crick, "Pepper should really have given him written limits when she suggested he got Steve something he'd remember from the past."

"Or Bucky could have played down the enthusiasm at the suggestion of this gift," Bruce offered with a chuckle, "I can't believe he's egging Tony to buy the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even if it's Steve's 99th birthday."

"You should feel grateful that he didn't suggest buying Brooklyn on the whole," a voice came from behind and Bruce turned to see Rhodey come in with a smirk, "That guy can make Tony buy the clothes off the President's back if he suggested that Steve would like them."

"Oh, I'm sorry this is coming from the guy who got himself a new suit claiming Stevie was concerned about the old one's ability?" another voice came and Bucky came behind Rhodey, shooting him a pointed smirk, "I don't wanna call you a pot because your belly's gonna resemble that soon enough, doll, but the truth stands. Pot."

"You, stay away from me," Natasha shot Bucky a glare before settling back, "I get one more call from Dave Roberts about Tony Stark calling his home at 1 a.m. and I'm turning your gun into scrap."

"You wouldn't," Bucky waved a hand dismissively but blinked when Rhodey slapped his ass and walked over to crash on the chair beside the couch.

"I would," he told Bucky simply and winked for effect, getting an eye-roll from his boyfriend.

Bruce smiled to himself as he watched the banter continue, Natasha chipping in from time to time. This was his family now, he admitted quietly, rolling his eyes at the raspberry Bucky blew at Rhodey. This was the gift he got for strutting.

He would not be thankful to Loki for many things in life, but for the Avengers, he would always be silently thankful.

\---------------

Tony continued to scourge through the junk in the large box, muttering to himself about crazy old Howard and his obsession for chaotic categorization when he felt something rest on the nape of his neck.

"Freeze! This is the Stark Monitor!" a low voice said and Tony dropped the blueprint he was holding, raising his hands above his head and getting up slowly.

"I would prefer it if it were the Stark Naked Monitor," he said slowly, lightly shrugging but keeping his hands up, "but given the situation, I guess you'll do. What seems to be the problem, officer?"

"It's Captain," the voice corrected snidely and Tony grinned to himself, "And I'm here to arrest you on the charges of kidnapping."

"Whom did I kidnap, may I ask,  _Captain_ ," Tony replied in a husky voice and laughed when he was spun around to face the cheeky smile on Steve's face.

"My boyfriend, of course," Steve replied simply before tightening his arms around Tony and pulling him in. Tony rolled his eyes but wrapped his own arms around the taller man's waist and leaned in for a kiss.

Steve, the dirty cheat of course, left him literally breathless at the end of it, smiling smugly.

"I thought you were going to wear your birthday suit all day long today?" Tony asked, eyeing the cobalt blue turtleneck Steve was wearing before leering at him, "You disappointed me, Steven."

"No, you disappointed yourself," Steve shot back with a deadpanned voice, "As you said,  _you_ thought that I was going to wear my birthday suit all day long, not me. High expectations lead to disastrous falls, Mr.Stark."

"Heart ache here, Mr. Rogers," Tony quipped dramatically getting a raised eyebrow from Steve.

"Right, the way you had one when you demanded birthday sex from me at midnight," Steve commented wryly, "Remind me, isn't the birthday guy supposed to demand gifts?"

"Sex is mutually gratifying, Steve," Tony said dismissively, "And honestly, all those names of the Lord in vain were uncalled for."

"I woke up in restraints, Tony," Steve said slowly, giving his boyfriend a mock death glare, "Spear-eagled to the bed. In the middle of the night, You're lucky I didn't break the bed in a knee-jerk reaction."

"Oh, but I would have liked a bit of  _jerking_ ," Tony winked and smirked when Steve frowned at the bad pun, "Really honey, you would think that after nine months, you would be used to my surprises. An embryo gets used to a sac of mucus during nine months of gestation and you're a highly evolved human species. Disappointment of the maximum, Captain Rogers."

Steve rolled his eyes at that but stole a sharp kiss anyway, finally loosening his hold on Tony and taking a step back.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked, peering over Tony's shoulder at the junk gathered in boxes, "What is this, a yard sale?"

"Yes, I am putting up a yard sale for Dad's old junk that may or may not have secret theories, blueprints of energy cubes and probably a replica of God-knows-what serum," Tony answered sarcastically and moved out of Steve's arms to pick at an old film reel from one of the boxes, "I'm looking for something actually. Something for you."

"Right, because trying to buy the Dodgers isn't enough," Steve muttered on a sigh and Tony froze for a minute, "Oh come on, you know that Bucky sucks at keeping secrets from me."

Tony pondered over that before shrugging and nodding.

"Eh, that's still in process," the genius quipped casually before his eyes landed on the object he was searching for and his hand darted into the box, "Aha! There you are. Come on, come on out you shit...there! Gotcha!"

He turned around holding a leather box in one hand triumphantly and whined when he saw Steve wearing his pointed stare.

"What?" Tony whined, tutting when Steve opened his mouth, "No, quiet, you'll ruin my birthday surprise. Here, just take it."

"Tony, we need to talk about the Dodgers," Steve insisted with a calm voice, eyeing the box in Tony's hand, "You can't just buy a baseball team for people."

"Sure you can, I can." Tony shrugged, waving the box in Steve's face, "Now, just take this, come on!"

Steve looked like he was going to argue but decided to pick his battles and took the box quietly, rolling his eyes at Tony's gleeful smirk.

When he opened it, Steve felt himself go speechless.

"You like it?" Tony asked quietly, gesticulating wildly with his hands, "I remembered it last month when you were talking about your mission in Stuttgart. Dad mentioned it a couple of times, but he was mostly drunk then so I didn't know for sure, but then I got Pepper to bring back all the junk and look, here it is. Looks like I wasn't imagining when I thought that Howard was your biggest fanboy. There's a shit ton of your stuff here but I thought you'd like this the best. It was broken a bit, but I fixed it and clearly forgot to keep it safe, hence back into junk box here. What do you think? Like or no like?"

Steve was silent for a whole minute, running his fingers over the small plaque. It had been a joke, a funny memoir of the Howling Commandos after they had demolished a Hydra base. Howard had created it for them out of the scrap from the first shield model he had suggested for Steve. Steve could see the parts Tony had mended, the newer finishing, the more elegant edges. The calligraphy remained the same though and Steve knew that Tony understood the importance of that part.

" _An teaghlach de Dímheabhraigh_. _Le haghaidh lá atá inniu ann agus go deo_ " Steve read and smiled softly, finally looking up at Tony who was regarding him with a careful gaze, "He didn't know Irish all that well, Howard, so he got this from Dum Dum, who knew it barely himself. It means..."

" _A family of idiots. For today and forever_ " Tony said with a small grin, "I know, I had it translated. It was you and your guys, right? It meant something,  _means_ something to you. Would have been wrong to throw it away."

"It was a joke," Steve repeated on a whisper but Tony placed a hand over the one on the plaque and shrugged.

"We could all use some more jokes," he said quietly and Steve smiled at him, nodding in understanding and agreement.

"This is beautiful, Tony," Steve said happily, looking up and grinning wider at his boyfriend, "Thank you. It's the second best birthday gift ever."

"Oh?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow, "What's the first?"

"My new family," Steve replied simply and Tony chuckled softly before crossing the distance to kiss Steve.

"Sap," he whispered against the blond's lips.

"Right back at ya," Steve answered and continued kissing Tony leisurely, standing in the workshop surrounded by the most happy junk he had ever seen.

\-------------

Rhodey glanced at Steve one more time, noting the nervous tick in his hands before sharing a look with Natasha and Sam. It had been two hours since Tony was supposed to come back from his 'emergency meeting' with Pepper and the Board. Tony never lingered long at these meetings, he hated them with the fire of a thousand suns.

He would never linger today. On Steve's birthday. The one he had been planning for a week with all the Avengers.

"Did you try Pepper again?" Bruce asked and Natasha sighed silently, nodding at him distractedly.

"It's going to voice-mail," she said in irritation, glaring at her phone like it held the answers, "She never picks her calls during these meetings. It must have gotten extended."

"Or there's something wrong and we're wasting time here," Sam countered quietly and stared back defiantly when Rhodey shot him a look, "We all know that Pepper hates being late. She was supposed to be here for the party too, right? She would never have let things drag this long, not with Tony surely tearing the place down with his annoyance."

"If something's wrong, Barnes or Vision would have called by now," Clint replied calmly, looking at Steve, "They've gone to check, right? Then lets stay calm till we know otherwise."

"Something's wrong, Clint," Steve said in a low voice, staring at his phone, "I can feel it in my gut. Something isn't right here. Sam's right, we're wasting time here. We should be doing something."

"We  _are_ doing something, Steve," Wanda commented from beside Clint, "We're keeping calm and holding fort till we get a hold of things. Mindless panic will not lead us anywhere. Vision and Bucky will be back soon with good news, don't worry."

"Good news really isn't our playground," Bruce commented quietly and Natasha looked at him silently from where she was standing near Steve. She knew from experience that thinking the worst didn't help. They couldn't work without any data and they had to remain patient till any hint proved something. She could see Steve clenching and unclenching his hands and felt a slight surge of worry. If something had gone wrong, they would need all the time they could get to set things right.

If Sam was right, the time they were spending right now, could very well be a waste. It was a dangerous juxtaposition to be in.

When the call came finally, Steve was the first to answer it on JARVIS' server, putting it on speaker.

"Vision, tell us good news, man," Clint said before anybody could speak and Steve saw the android's eyes lower for a second before he met Clint's eyes. That second was enough to send cold panic down Steve's back.

"Captain, I think we'll need to assemble," Vision said quietly through the screen, "It seems like we have a problem here."

"Where's Buck, Vision?" Steve asked immediately, noting that his best friend wasn't standing near the android, "What's going on?"

"Barnes has been taken by those who have taken Tony and Pepper," Vision let the bomb drop.

"But that's not the worst part, is it?" Clint asked, sensing the hesitation in the body language of the red-skinned guy, "What are you not telling?"

Vision looked conflicted for a minute, his eyes flickering towards Wanda. Whatever he must have seen in her eyes, it made him look back at Clint.

"Clint, they have your children too," he said calmly and Natasha felt her blood run cold, noting Clint's hand go lax on his bow, "But that isn't the worst part."

"The kidnapping is being helmed by Pepper Potts," Vision said after a breath and every Avenger heard their own hearts stop at the information.

Bruce felt his head spin before his ears began to feel a roar and he saw the faces of the others go white.

Of all the nightmares they could imagine, this one seemed to come out on top.

The only scarier part was that this wasn't a nightmare. This was reality.

For the second time since he had known Tony Stark, Bruce felt his life change.

This time though, he felt it was for the worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it Pepper? Is it someone else? Will the Avengers be able to save the day on time? Whoo! So many questions! Please let me know your feedback on the first chapter of this journey <3


	2. Chapter 2

Tony knew from the moment 'Pepper' called him in for work on the Fourth of July that something was off. Pepper was a sucker for any holiday that involved fireworks. She had a strict rule of never letting work spoil those for her, at least she had them for the thirteen years he knew her. 

He also knew that she would have meant something serious if she had asked him to come in on Steve's birthday. 

What he didn't know was why she had hit him with a drug to knock him out in her office. Or why he was waking up in a cell with what looked like bullet-proof glass casing. 

"It's nice of you to join us, Mr. Stark," he heard a voice and blinked his eyes a couple of times to focus on the redhead across the barrier, "You had us worried for a while. Well, not much, but a little bit annoyed for certain. We are really pressed for time, you know."

"Huh," Tony huffed calmly, eyeing the person from head to toe with a lazy look, "Wrong shoes, but overall, a good try. Where's she by the way?"

"Where's who?"

Tony smirked sharply and raised an eyebrow, "My CEO,  _the real_ Pepper Potts," he elaborated snidely before leaning back a bit and shooting the fake an arrogant look, "I told you honey, wrong shoes. Pepper would rather die than be seen wearing wedges."

The redhead cocked her head to the right and smiled slowly.

"You are good," she mused casually, walking closer, her heels making muted thuds against the floor, "Really good."

"Yes, well, comes with the whole genius package," Tony replied, keeping his calm facade intact, trying to discreetly check if he had any loophole.

"I might even keep you, for a while," Ms.Siren wearing Pepper's face said huskily, sashaying close to the cell, "if you behave though."

"Ah, see, that might be a problem," Tony smiled fake-apologetically, "I  _behave_ only for three people: Rhodey, Steve and the real Pepper. Who you are not. So, sorry, bad luck. Where  _is_ she anyway? And what's your deal? Weapons? Hydra? AIM? Who's your puppeteer?"

Fake-Pepper laughed throatily at that, like Tony had just transformed into Jim Carrey for some reason. The genius simply smiled complacently, knowing that crazy always needed to be dealt with patience.

"Impatience, impatience," she tutted, tapping a finger against the cell, "You humans, always in a hurry. What do you call it? A rat race? Always greedy for all you can get and never satisfied. You should learn to wait your turn, darling."

Before Tony could tell her just how much of a darling he could be, she waved him off and continued.

"You're here for...the inauguration, shall we say?" she gestured daintily with her hands and Tony frowned a bit, "You see, we wanted to start it off with a bang. With the fireworks, as you would say. And who better for that, than the notorious Iron Man himself."

"Start what off?" Tony asked but before she could answer, there was a noise from behind her and Tony saw her cock her ear to the side, nodding sharply.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, we'll have to skip the spinning rims and get rolling," she said demurely and Tony had the insane urge to rip her face off for bringing the devious look to Pepper's eyes, "It seems that our guest of honor for today has arrived. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

Tony knew that things were about to get really ugly when the faint hiss of a gas being released reached his ears and a strange fume tickled his nose. The last sight before his vision blurred was strangely surreal and horrifying. Tony desperately wanted it to be false, but it looked like Clint's kids were in three large cylinders and being rolled into his line of vision.

He tried to fight off the darkness but he lost, the horror of the image fading into black.

\-------------

Steve and Rhodey knew that Bucky had a tracker. Everybody did, Tony and Natasha made sure of that whenever possible. Bruce had it in his glass frame, Clint in his watch, Natasha in her locket, Sam and Scott in their finger rings, Steve in his belts, Tony in his suit bracelet and Wanda in her jacket. Vision had it embedded into his skin.

Bucky had it added to his metal-arm. It was the scariest day for both the super-soldier friends, knowing that messing with the arm had been a specialty of Hydra. Tony had even offered to ask T'Challa about it but Bucky had brushed it off, saying that he trusted Tony.

Rhodey had never been more glad of that decision as today. He watched as the green blip, feeble at its best, glowed on his HUD. Out of them all, Rhodey was sure that he would reach the location fastest. The Quinjet had been upgraded and modified endlessly but even then it could not beat the speed of a suit. It also didn't have the added advantage of a personal AI.

"Fri, any update on the other tracker?" Rhodey asked as he maneuvered around a sudden fleet of birds. 

"No, Lieutenant," the AI replied, surprising him again with the subdued emotion in her voice, something he was sure AIs shouldn't have, "There is no trace of boss yet."

Rhodey ground his teeth at that and tried to push faster. The War Machine suit was bulkier and heavier than Tony's suit, Rhodey knew that. Usually it worked fine with him, thinking about more gun power and bigger weapons. Today though, he wished he had the sleeker red version, one that would make him fly faster.

Knowing that your boyfriend, with dormant mind-control past issues and a spotlight for attracting Hydra, had been kidnapped was frightening as it was. Knowing that your best friend was gone too and his frickin tracker was out? That pissed Rhodey off to no end. Rhodey was used to Tony's enemies and competitors. He had given quite of them a taste of his fist, metaphorically and literally. He was familiar with Tony's near-death pattern. He knew that the idiot was smart and could figure out things faster than a usual mind. That didn't make him invincible though and Rhodey knew that fact quite intimately too.

He was used to Tony dying on him. He was not used to Bucky disappearing on him though. 

This was his personal hell and the only person who could probably relate to him at the moment was another man chasing the tracker at the moment, wearing a scowl beneath a cowl. Rhodey  _knew_ that Steve was having the worst birthday of his life and that when they retrieved their stolen teammates (because they WOULD), he was going to have a really tough chat with all of them about security snafus. Of course, he could also end up locking his best friend and boyfriend in the Tower for the rest of their lives. Rhodey weighed both options and didn't know which sounded worse.

He was sure though that Steve was handling this about as well as either Rhodey himself or Clint, the poor bastard was. Just for Clint, Rhodey wanted to add an extra bit of flair in his punches today. 

"Rhodes, there seems to be a stronger signal on the tracker," Friday informed and Rhodey checked his HUD to find the green blip blink harder. Which meant that Bucky was in an area with a strong radar reach. 

"Cap, you seeing this?" Rhodey asked into his comm and felt it crackle to life.

"Following it," Steve's voice came through, curt and calm, "Go in straight for the trackers. Don't engage before. We'll handle the resistance."

Rhodey replied in the affirmative and Steve felt a small part of the ice unclench in his lungs. He had a conflicting relationship with patience when it came to saving one of his own. That had been a major factor in the civil war, he remembered. When there was red waved in front of people he loved, he would always fight. 

Unfortunately, this time there were  _more than one_ loved ones at stake. Steve felt his fingers tighten around his shield's handle when he glanced at Clint, sitting in the hangar as Natasha and Bruce piloted the jet. Laura had confirmed that the kids had gone missing from their school and everybody had been wary of Clint's reaction. The archer had gone through loss and deep bottom a lot many times for him to even think about losing his kids. Steve caught sight of Wanda sitting close to him, gently re-assuring Clint about their success rate. 

He could still feel Tony's smile against his lips from the morning. The sun was leaving for the day and darkness was cloaking the skies but Steve could care less about the fireworks that would soon begin all over the country. His birthday was ironic in more ways than one and Steve sometimes felt strange about it coinciding with the Fourth of July. He wasn't a fan of fireworks after the war, his senses jarring at the sounds and going on alertness overdrive. Sam had given a solution when he would mute the telecast of the fireworks, thus making sure that Steve could only  _see_ the visuals and not hear the sounds. Tony would sound-proof the floor to help, ensuring that the blasts from outside wouldn't disturb them on this day. 

Steve wished they would now. Maybe that would be a smaller hell to face than whatever awaited them now.

After a while, when they were close to the vicinity found in their radar, they heard Rhodey's comm crackling.

"No! JAMES NO!"

Steve felt his heart stop in that moment and saw Clint flinch beside Wanda. 

There was something wrong and Steve didn't know if it would be reversible.

\--------------

The minute Bucky came to consciousness, the first thought he had was about Rhodey.

He had jumped in without thinking again. One minute he had gotten the assholes under him, ready to split their spines from the bodies and the next minute he had crumbled, hearing himself scream. It had been some sort of shock impulse hit into his metal arm that had him keening in minutes. The last thing he remembered was staggering onto Tony's limp body, in an attempt to keep him safe. 

Well, that seemed to have ended well.

"Jim's gonna kill me," he groaned hoarsely as he clutched his spinning head, "or I'm never gonna have sex again."

"Interesting choices," a voice said from above and Bucky tensed, prepping his mind to beat down the cobwebs and become alert. He was used to rapid healing and knew that he could get over the pain faster if he put his mind to it. Steeling his nerve, he looked up and blinked at the person in front of him.

"Man, you've got some serious dental problem," he quipped as method of addressing because honestly, he had no other thoughts to grasp at for this new creature. Standing at an average human height with sickly green skin stretched across, hollowed long eyes and ears that were the stuff of elves, Bucky thought that this whoever was quite similar to the aliens Steve had talked about during his New York battle.

"You the Chitauri?" he asked, just to be sure, even as he discreetly tried to check if the alien had any back-up.

Apparently, it was the wrong question to ask, because Mr.Green's already ugly mug simply turned more sinister at the name of Bucky's familiar aliens.

"It never ceases to wonder us how less evolved humans are," Mr. Green spoke, going into the stereotypical bad-guy monologue Bucky and Rhodey always made fun of in movies, "You with your limited knowledge of your solar systems, water on Mars, walking on your solitary moon and other infantile information have still not managed to recognize the presence and intelligence of beings outside your realm. Doesn't it baffle you, Soldier, that you are so pathetically outnumbered and yet you harp only on the ones you know instead of looking beyond to learn about the others?"

"So, you're not the Chitauri," Bucky surmised from the whole babble and gracefully got to his feet, eyeing the enemy with blatant distaste, "Doesn't matter though, cuz you still look ugly. Now, lets cut the bullshit and get to business. First, where's Tony?"

Not-Chitauri looked pleased with  _that_ question which did nothing to calm Bucky's mind. His brain was vaulting into injuries and mind-control and mutilation and -

"He's our guest," Slimy Guy answered simply and Bucky blinked, "Just as you are. If you will follow me, I'll take you to him now."

That sounded...surprisingly easy, Bucky thought. But he was lacking his gun and he had to be tactical right now so he simply acquiesced, keeping an eye out for any escape or additional surprises.

Five minutes later, when he was handed his gun back, Bucky felt like throwing it away.

"No. No deal," he said coldly, suppressing the urge to just shoot the bastard in front of him. He couldn't do it, no matter how easy it would be. The faces of Cooper, Lila and young Nathaniel were still stuck on him as he saw them behind the alien asshole. He could see Tony, right in front of him, unconscious by the looks of it, chained to two metal poles.

"You mistake my command for an option, Mr. Barnes," the alien chuckled hollowly and Bucky's grip tightened on his gun, "You see, I am curious to see how the mind of an Avenger works. You people have always been so...selfless, if I may? But if you had to choose between your own, if it came down to choosing between two selfish options, what would you pick? The choices are in front of you. You can either pick Stark or the three tiny humans."

Bucky felt like throwing up. The cylinders holding the kids were going to be gassed soon, he could tell by the tube connected to them. Tony seemed to be out for the good. Bucky had to choose between saving either Tony or Clint's kids. If he shot Tony, the kids would be spared from gassing. If he saved the kids, Tony would be burnt alive by the electric currents that would pass through the metal poles, connected to the power source directly. 

"What do you want?" he tried stalling, desperately trying to grasp at every ounce of calm, "This can't be what you want. What is your goal here? C'mon, tell me!"

"I told you Mr. Barnes, curiosity," the alien guy replied with a shark smirk, "Your countdown begins in five seconds."

Bucky knew the possibilities. He could gun down this bastard and get everyone out, but then he noted that the tech with the guys were more advanced than the ones he knew. Also, there was a backup of aliens near both Tony and the kids. He could try to gun down all of them, but the chances of that triggering the death of anyone from his lot was staggering. His eyes sought out every possible exit, every option he could find in this limited window.

And then the countdown began.

Bucky wanted to yell, scream his voice hoarse at Tony to wake up. The kids were sobbing openly now and Bucky felt his control fast slipping. If Tony had been awake, he would have had a better plan, Bucky thought hysterically. His head was close to bursting at the countdown running. Bucky knew enough about evil guys to know that pleading for mercy never worked. It didn't work with humans, so the chances of working with aliens seemed none to existent.

He thought about today morning, when he was badgering Tony to buy Brooklyn for Steve.

_10_

He thought about Cooper proudly showing off his archery prize last week.

_9_

He thought about Rhodey's sleepy smile when Bucky showed him Tony's new upgrade on his arm.

_8_

He thought about Laura's insistence on family dinners.

_7_

He thought about Howard and his dying eyes.

_6_

He thought about Clint and his cheeky grin.

_5_

He thought about his hilarious shovel talk with Tony

_4_

He thought about the painfully sweet hug from young Lila.

_3_

He thought about Rhodey.

_2_

He thought about Clint

_1_

He thought about Steve.

The minute the trigger got pressed under his finger, Bucky wished he had stuck to being the Winter Soldier. Maybe that would have helped him in not feeling. Maybe that would have helped in not watching his own bullet murder the final member of the Stark family. Maybe that would have helped in not freezing in horror as his bullet triggered some force-field or invisible beams that lit the unconscious genius on fire. 

Maybe that would have lessened his numbing pain as he watched Tony burn in front of him.

Maybe being the Winter Soldier would have stopped the horror when he heard an extremely familiar voice scream in his vicinity.

"No! JAMES NO!"

Time had stopped for Bucky but his eyes hadn't stopped watching. He could see the War Machine suit blast into the room. He could see himself be pushed to the ground by the blast from Rhodey's vicinity. He could see the others rush in late, Clint rushing in first and running towards his kids. He could see Natasha skidding in behind him, opening the cylinders with nimble fingers keying in codes. He could see Vision and Sam fly in, staring in horror as Rhodey attempted to put out Tony's fire in vain. He could see Sam speak into his comm, whipping his head to stare at Bucky.

He could see Steve bounding in, skidding to a halt when he caught sight of Rhodey yelling Tony's name. 

He could see the moment it struck him that he had ended another life.

He could see the moment it struck Steve that Bucky had done it.

He knew that he had to do something. He had to say something. Anything. But everything came to a halt when he heard Pepper's voice from behind.

"Tony, no!" he saw Pepper hobble out from behind him, bruised and battered, "What have you done! Barnes, what have you DONE!"

He didn't remember how Pepper had come here or what was happening, but when he stared at her numbly, he thought he saw her eyes shift color for a moment.

It didn't last long though, because Rhodey had now whipped around and was staring at Bucky with the one emotion he never wanted to face.

Betrayal.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll update more soon, I promise. I love feedback, as you guys know. It'll only make me write faster ) <3

**Author's Note:**

> Mwahahaha cliffhangers! I didn't take the Infinity Wars route because I'm working on another story based on that premise. How did you all like this? Did it make you want to throws daggers at me? Does anybody need warm cocoa and blankets yet? Feedback please honeybuns! <3


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